


Something He Left Behind

by parkerxheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Crying, Death, Death Fic, Grief/Mourning, NOT STARKER EWWW, Parent Death, Poor Peter Parker, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Sadness, Tears, The Author Regrets Everything, Tony Starks Dies, Tony left a vid for Petey, Video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-18 20:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16524452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkerxheart/pseuds/parkerxheart
Summary: The teenager went to put the frame back, and successfully did so, but hit the workbench by accidently when he stepped back to view the picture from a distance. He gritted his teeth in pain and kicked the leg of the table in anger.“Hey, kid. It’s me.”Time seemed to stop. That wasTony’s voice.ORTony Stark died reversing The Snap, and he left something for Peter.





	Something He Left Behind

It was impossibly hard to comprehend the fact that Tony Stark was really gone.

That he died defeating Thanos to bring everyone back.

When the truth came to Peter, he didn’t believe it, because Tony Stark _can’t be dead._ So, he had asked Rhodey, and Pepper, and Happy, and even freaking Stephen Strange, and everyone gave him the same answer: Tony was dead.

Peter spent countless hours in his bedroom, crying while holding a Stark Industries t-shirt and the tiny Iron Man helmet from when he was seven in his lap. Even though it had been almost a decade since that night at the Stark Expo in 2010, Peter remembered the Hammer Drone ready to blast him to kingdom come and the blue light of Tony’s repulsor blast clear as day.

He brought the helmet up to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. If he believed in a god, he’d pray, he’d ask for just one more hug from Tony. One more joke. One more pat on the back or _hey kid._

Peter took the subway to Stark Tower after school one day, backpack over his shoulder with the tiny Iron Man helmet in it that was the only thing that really seemed to calm him down from a panic attack if he ever got one.

“Hello, Peter,” FRIDAY said when he walked through the door into the elevator. “How are you doing?”

“Really bad,” Peter whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. “Can you take me to Mr. Stark’s lab please?”

“Of course.”

Peter curled his hands into fists and dug his nails into his flesh, the gesture grounding him with the little bit of pain it produced.

When the elevator doors opened, and Peter flung open the one to Tony’s lab, he was immediately hit by the smell of motor oil and a little bit of Tony’s old cologne.

The tears in his eyes spilled over.

Peter ran his hand along the work desk and his fingers came back with a little bit of dust. The desk was cluttered and unkempt as Tony had left it. Peter found a picture, clad with a frame, of a group photo of Tony and the Avengers, before he walked into Peter’s apartment and changed his life forever.

They were all smiling. A couple of them were doing silly poses. Thor doing a double peace sign with a goofy grin on his face and Clint doing finger guns. Tony had his arm outstretched and his hand vertical and flat, acting a repulsor blast.

Peter brushed the tips of his fingers along the edge of the frame and two tears splashed onto the slightly dusty glass. They slid down like raindrops on a window during a storm and sunk into the crack between the frame glass and edge.

The teenager went to put the frame back, and successfully did so, but hit the workbench by accidently when he stepped back to view the picture from a distance. He gritted his teeth in pain and kicked the leg of the table in anger.

_“Hey, kid. It’s me.”_

Time seemed to stop. That was _Tony’s voice._

Peter whirled his head around and saw that the open laptop was playing a video of Tony Stark in the centre of the frame.

_“If you’re watching this now, I’m no longer here.”_

Peter scrambled to sit down on the bench, inches away from the screen of the laptop, tears pooling in his eyes.

_“So, listen, I’ve got a lot of things to say, the first of which being, I’m sorry,”_ Tony said while running a hand through his hair nervously.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Peter whispered and placed a hand lightly over his mouth.

_“Peter, when you first walked into my life, or more accurately, when I walked into yours, I knew right away that you were . . . well, you were you,”_ Tony said with a smile. _“You were different from everyone else. You were smart but could be ridiculous as hell sometimes, you were sweet but like anyone, you had your moments where you snapped.”_

Peter winced and remembered in vivid detail every time he snapped at Tony and wished with every inch of his soul that he could take it all back and hug Tony instead.

_“But I did too, and whenever I snapped at you, I’m sorry,”_ Tony said softly, and his eyes started to well up.

_If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it._

_This is where you zip it, okay? The adult is talking._

_You should not be here._

_What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that’s on you. And if you died, I feel like that’s on me._

_“If I had known how little time we’d have left, I wouldn’t have done it,”_ Tony continued after a beat, running a hand down his face. _“Peter, the last time I saw you, you were dying. You were turning to dust in my arms and I couldn’t even say three words to you as you were begging for your life.”_

Peter was crying now but quieted his sobs as much as possible. He didn’t bother to wipe away his tears and let them flow freely down his cheeks and drip off his chin. “It wasn’t your fault,” Peter choked out. “You did nothing wrong. You did nothing wrong.”

_“And now that I’m not here anymore, I haven’t seen you since,”_ Tony said, and tears finally started to fall. He swiped at them quickly before continuing. _“Because as you know, we found a way to get you back, and I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to welcome you back or give you the hug you really, really deserve.”_

It dawned on Peter that they never shared a real hug, and that only made him cry harder.

_“Do good things with your life, kid, because I know you’re capable of it,”_ Tony said, swiping at more tears that rolled down his cheeks. _“Don’t do drugs. Take care of your aunt. Get into college or university. Spend time with your friends, including that one that hacked into my tech,”_ he added with a breathless chuckle.

A small sob came from Tony and he ran his hand down his face again, taking tears with him. _“I’m sorry that I can’t say this to you in person right now. I’ve always wanted to tell you that you’re a son to me.”_

A harsh, loud sob ejected itself from Peter’s mouth and now he was crying embarrassingly hard.

_“I love you and I care about you with each and every inch of my soul,”_ Tony said, his voice breaking. _“I’m so sorry, Peter. Goodbye.”_

The video ended.

“No!” Peter cried, slamming his fists down on the table. “No no no! Don’t be sorry! You can’t die being sorry! You can’t . . . you can’t . . .” Peter couldn’t finish due to his intense amount of crying. “I love you too, Tony! Please! Please come back to me!”

Peter collapsed over and his forehead smacked down onto the laptop and his body shook with each individual sob.

He raised his head and played the video again, and again, and again, until the laptop ran out of battery. A scream of defeat and anger and sadness and whatever else sounded through the room.

“Please don’t leave me like this,” Peter whimpered. “Please, Tony.”

Peter took what seemed like a bajillion breaths to calm himself down and his tears eventually dried up.

“Did you play that, FRIDAY?” Peter asked the AI.

“Yes, Peter,” FRIDAY said. “Boss told me to play it for you when you came here.”

“He knew he was going to die,” Peter whispered. “He knew that’s what he had to do. He knew he was never going to see me again.”

“Yes,” FRIDAY confirmed. “It was a very hard day for him.”

Peter crouched down to rummage through his backpack for one specific thing and a Sharpie pen, pulling both items out and onto the desk at once.

Uncapping the pen, Peter wrote something and left it atop the closed laptop.

He knew in the back of his mind that Tony would never see this.

Tony was gone, and there was no changing that.

As Peter exited the doors of the Stark Tower, he left behind what felt like a piece of himself.

There, on top of the laptop, was the tiny Iron Man helmet, reading _Thank you, Tony Stark, for everything_ inked in black sharpie on the top.

**Author's Note:**

> hEyYyY. So that was tragic. Um. I'm sorry.


End file.
